A Dursley at Hogwarts?
by HPnLOTRrox
Summary: Dudley Dursley's daughter gets the surprise of her life when she gets accepted into Hogwarts. What will happen? Please read and review.
1. Olivia Gets Her Letter

A/N: This was a small idea I had, what a hilarious event would it be for one of Dudley Dursley's kids to get a letter being accepted at Hogwarts? It will definitely continue at least up to the departure of Dudley's daughter from Platform 9 ¾ but if it continues after that depends on how well liked this story is. (I sincerely hope you all like it) Please, enjoy and please review.

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The sun was shining softly into the kitchen of Dudley and Elizabeth Dursley, as Elizabeth was at the stove preparing breakfast for their little family. School was out for the summer so their eldest, Emma Dursley was home from her second year at Smeltings, her father's old school. Their youngest, Olivia was still only 10 and going to the local school until the time came for her to be transferred to secondary school like her sister. Emma looked very much like her grandmother Petunia, with the exception that she had thankfully not inherited her grandmother's rather long neck. She was tall, thin, with blue eyes and lovely blonde hair that Olivia envied despite her parents constant assurance that her own hair was quite pretty. Olivia on the other hand favored her mother more, she was very petite, usually always being the smallest girl in her class which she often got picked on for, and she had lovely chestnut colored hair, but always failed to see it as anything other than as she put it "horribly mousey looking" and light large brown eyes that; with her height made her look slightly younger than she actually was.

Olivia, who had just came downstairs went to the table and sat in between her sister and her father who happened to be reading his morning paper. Dudley Dursley's years of being on his school's wrestling team had paid off, he no longer was the size of a baby whale but was a rather large muscular man with broad shoulders. He had met Elizabeth while they were both at college and promptly got married after graduation. Olivia watched her father with great interest, she had something she was burning to ask him, but knew it was best to wait until he was done reading his paper, he never liked to be interrupted while reading the paper. Once he got to the last section of the paper and had started on the crossword, then she knew it'd be ok to ask him. She had been planning her argument for weeks now when she'd ask her parents for what she wanted more than anything in the world for her birthday, she wanted a pet. She wasn't sure what they'd say, neither of the Dursley girls had ever had a pet in the house before and she was quite sure if her parents even liked animals at all. But still her birthday was in a couple of weeks and that would be the prime time to ask for one she had decided.

Her sister had shot her a glare when she had sat down, Emma had been distancing herself from her ever since that day at the playground a few days ago. Emma had agreed to take her little sister to the park and when Olivia had jumped out of the swing something amazing had happened, she stayed airborne much longer than normal for children to do so when leaping out of swings. Emma had promptly demanded to know how her sister had accomplished such a thing and when she had no explanation she simply hissed at her sister to not do that again and announced they were going home.

"Why do you always have to end up doing such weird things like that? Don't you realize when you do stuff like that you look like a freak? At least Mum and Dad didn't see you, what would they think? Come on, we're going home before someone notices what a little freak you are and you embarrass me."

Poor Olivia, strange things had been happening to her that she couldn't explain for as long as she could remember, her parents had rarely been around strangely when it happened, it always happened either around Emma or at school or when she was alone she found she could do amazing things just by thinking about them. One of the few times her parents had noticed it was one day when she was sitting in the family room, very bored and she was staring at the globe on the bookshelf and it started spinning quite on it own. Her mother and father had noticed but luckily the window had been opened when it happened and blamed it on the spring breeze from the open window. Little incidents like this had always been overlooked or excused somehow even though Emma always said her younger sister was a bit on the strange side.

Olivia felt a small pang of hurt at her sister's glare as she started in on her breakfast her mother had set in front of her. Her mother had been so busy, she hadn't noticed the interlude that had taken place between the girls. The small clink of the mail slot being opened was heard, and her father said,

"Girls, could one of you go fetch the mail?"

"I'll do it!" Olivia exclaimed. She loved getting the mail, she hardly ever received any but occasionally got a letter from her second cousin Lily Potter who's family did send mail to the Dursley's by regular post mail since her mother had a deadly phobia of birds. It made her feel important to fetch the mail, and she had always secreted hoped that she, like her second cousins would get a letter to the school they all attended, Hogwarts. She had heard much about the place from Lily who had just completed her first year there. Emma thought the idea of going to Hogwarts sounded stupid, but it sounded like great fun to Olivia. As she stooped down to pick up the mail she noticed among the bills and various junk mail offers, a rather large envelope addressed to her in emerald green ink written on rather thick parchment. It said:

Miss. O Dursley

Second Lavender Bedroom

8 Pryor Court

Little Whinging

Surrey

Olivia gasped and dropped the letter, she bent down to pick it up again, hand trembling. She knew what this was…there was no way though right? This was for her? A huge smile broke out on the small girl's face and she raced into the kitchen shouting at the top of her lungs,

"Mum! Dad! Emma! Look what came for me, look, look, look! I'm going to go to school with Lily!"

"Good Heavens, Olivia, what are you shouting about? Stop shouting and tell us what the fuss is all about." her mother had said, she was quite exasperated with her youngest daughter for bursting back into the kitchen in such a manner as she had caused Elizabeth to drop the glass of milk she had been holding.

"Mum, Dad, I'm going to go to school where Lily does, this is the type of letter she told me she and both of her brothers got! No more math and science for me!"

"What are you talking about Livy? Let me see that." her father reached out and took the letter from her, and opened it. While he was reading it (with his wife reading over his shoulder) he gasped, "Oh my, I can't believe this…she's been accepted…"

Dudley and his wife looked at each other and then back at Olivia who was still all smiles, he had known about Hogwarts ever since his cousin Harry had been accepted so many years ago. He and Harry had made amends years ago right before Harry had left to go on his dangerous mission and Dudley and his parents had went into a wizarding protection program to keep them safe. After Harry had returned him and Dudley had kept in contact and they made several visits to each other's houses every year and regularly corresponded with him and his family. Olivia and Harry's daughter Lily had become good friends in fact, due to their close ages. He knew all of Harry's children attended Hogwarts just like their parents but he never in his entire life expected either of his girls to attend the wizarding school.

"Well…," Dudley said in a tentative voice, "we'll have to contact Harry, I'm sure he can help us with this, I haven't a clue where to begin with it all."

"Dear, are you sure this is where she should be going to school? I mean, we already planned for her to follow Emma to Smeltings, maybe that would be best, it's where all most of the kids from her class are going, she won't know anyone there. Emma was going to keep an eye on her at Smeltings, there's no one there to watch out for her. Are you sure she's been accepted at this school?" her mother looked apprehensive about it all.

"There's no question about it, this is the same kind of letter Harry got and that all his kids got, and she wouldn't have gotten the letter if she wasn't one. Smeltings won't be right for her if she really should be going here instead."

"I'll know Lily, and Al and James too. Lily's only a grade ahead of me. I won't be alone. Please Mum, I want to go, I'm horrible at school, you know I've always been bad at school, maybe I'd actually be good at school for once if you let me go here. Please, please, please, please, please?"

"Olivia Anne, young ladies do not beg it is very unbecoming." her mother snapped at her. She sighed and looked once again at the letter in her husband's hand, "Well if this really is where she should go," Elizabeth trailed off looking unsure once again.

"Well she did get accepted there's no mistake about that. Hmm, it says someone will be by tomorrow to further explain everything to us. Maybe I should call Harry and ask him about all this. If nothing else, he would help us when we go to get her supplies, I'm sure."

"But dear, what about all the dangers? I've heard Harry and Ginny talk about how dangerous of a time they had there. Are you sure she'll be safe?"

"That was years ago, Harry says the danger's gone. Nothing like that has happened for a little over twenty years now he told me none of his kids have ever been placed in danger there. His godson graduated there with honors without anything dangerous happening to him. I'll call Harry later to talk this all over."

"It's so fitting that you'll be going to a school full of freaks, you've been one for years. This explains why you've always been such a weirdo." Emma had finally spoken, sneering at her little sister with a look of disgust on her face.

"Emma Louise! That's a horrible thing to say to your sister, apologize to Olivia at once!" her mother exclaimed.

"Why should I apologize for saying what's true? She's never even fit in at school that I could see, all the other kids thought she was weird too. I'm not the only one."

"Emma, your sister is not a freak, apologize to her now, unless you want to be grounded for the next week, not a nice way to start off your summer holiday now is it?" her father spoke to her in that no nonsense manner both girls knew so well. She scrunched up her face in annoyence at her father and turned and without much feeling to Olivia,

"Sorry Olivia."

Olivia could tell she didn't mean it but she didn't care, she had been accepted to Hogwarts, nothing could dampen her spirits right now, not even her mean sister.


	2. Dudley's Talk With Harry

A/N: I am deeply sorry that it has taken me this long to get another chapter up, life has been…busy and unexpected as of late. Plus just being a college student takes up most of my time. I am going to try to get chapters out on a faster basis from now on. If anyone thought this story had been abandoned, I am sorry. Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed! I hope you all enjoy this chapter.

After the breakfast table had been cleared Dudley and Elizabeth went into the family room to further discuss their daughter's recent acceptance into Hogwarts. Both of the girls had to be reminded by their mother to go back to their rooms to make their beds. The events of the morning had driven it out of both of their minds obviously, Dudley was glad they didn't protest as either was likely to do at the start of the summer holiday. He wanted to have a moment alone with Liz to look over the letter more. Elizabeth practically fainted when she noticed that the students where allowed a cat, a toad or an owl.

"There is absolutely no way that she is getting some awful bird. Dudley, I refuse to have one in this house, you know how I feel about them."

"I know dear, I know, don't worry." Dudley said laughing slightly at his wife's behavior, he never did understand really why the wizards had always used owls as a means of postage but he himself didn't have any fears relating to birds, he was not however very fond of toads, but he knew Olivia didn't care much for them either so he didn't have to worry about her wanting any amphibians of any kind. "You know Liz; it doesn't say that she has to take a pet. She might not even want one, but if she does I can't really see any harm in her having one can you? It'd be with her at school most of the year and there'd be no grooming or training involved on our part like there would be with something like a dog. She'd be responsible for feeding it and taking care of it, she's old enough to be responsible for a pet."

"Yes, well, I don't see anything wrong with her having a cat as none of us are allergic, but I really wouldn't like her having an owl, they're huge birds and they eat mice! A friend of mine growing up had a lovely tabby that was very sweet. I don't suppose I would mind a cat, but what about all the shedding?"

"Oh I'm sure that's nothing that brushing it regularly and vacuuming can't help with. Olivia and Emma help you with the vacuuming once a week around the house already as it is. We could get her one for her birthday. Hmm, I think I'll go give Harry a ring now and tell him the news, set up a date to go out and get her supplies, hopefully he can give me a bit more information as well. I don't want to look like I know nothing at all when their representative comes by tomorrow."

Dudley got up leaving his wife sitting on the couch with the letter, and went to the phone to call Harry. He grinned widely at the thought of just how surprised Harry would be to hear that one of his daughters had turned out to be a witch seeing as how it was something that no one would have ever predicted, a Dursley with any magical talent? It really was a very ironic turn of events. Then with a thought of dread as he dialed Harry's number he had a sudden fearful thought, oh no, what would his mother and father think? Sighing he pushed the fears out of his mind as the phone on the other line began to ring, it was Harry's wife Ginny who answered the phone,

"Hello, Potter residence."

"Ginny, hello, how are you?"

"Dudley! How nice to hear from you, how are Elizabeth and the girls doing? Oh, sorry, hold on a sec,"

Dudley heard an exasperated Ginny say in a muffled tone for she must have laid the phone down;

"James! Stop picking on your sister! I don't care who started it, I'm stopping it! If I hear anymore arguing from you two I'll tell your father to just take Al to the world cup next week and you'll both sit at home with me while I make you get an early start on your summer homework."

"I'm sorry Dudley, ever since school's been out James has been doing everything he can to aggravate her and then claims she started it when she finally retaliates."

"Oh it's quite alright, been going through something similar with Emma and Olivia this summer too, they got along so much better when they were younger."

"It's just the usual sibling rivalry I'm sure, I was always arguing with one of my brothers when I was their age, I can see now why Mum was always yelling at us, we must have driven her mad. So how are things?"

"Pretty good, Elizabeth's just gotten promoted to head of her nursing staff at the hospital and the engineering business is going about like usual. Is Harry around? I've got some rather big news to discuss with him."

"Yes, he just walked in the room actually, well tell Elizabeth I said congratulations, I'm sure I'll be hearing this big news soon as well, wait, are you two having another baby?"

Dudley laughed at this, "What? No, no, nothing like that, no our baby days are over, our two girls are plenty for us. And trust me, you'll be hearing all about the big news very soon, it's just something I really wanted to share with Harry first."

Ginny smiled and nodded to herself at this, she knew it had taken many years for Harry and Dudley's relationship to become what a relationship between cousins should be, especially for two who were raised together. They really should have grown up feeling like brothers instead of enemies but at least in the recent years they've been making up for lost time.

"That's fine, I totally understand, hey I have an idea, it's been too long since you, Liz and the girls have been over for dinner, how about tonight and then we can all talk more about the big news?"

"That sounds great, I'll tell Liz."

"Alright, well here's Harry, we'll see you around 6 then. Bye Dudley."

"See you then Ginny."

Dudley heard muffled voices but couldn't make them out as Ginny passed Harry the phone, then he heard his cousin's cherry voice,

"Hey Big D, what's up?"

Laughing Dudley said, "Oh Harry just wait till you hear this, you won't believe it. You'll never guess who got a very interesting letter this morning; it reminded me of some other letters from a long time ago…"

Confused Harry replied, "Dudley, what are you talking about? Why would I be interested in your mail?

"Oh, not my mail, Olivia's, yes my little girl got a very interesting letter for her this morning. It made me think of you."

Dudley paused, waiting to see if Harry would guess what he was getting at. Harry meanwhile was still slightly confused, why would a letter Olivia got remind Dudley of him? Why would a child as young as Olivia get any mail anyway? He was sure of course that once she started secondary school that she'd get regular letters from friends but…he gasped loudly, it all suddenly clicked. But there was no way right?

"Dudley…you don't mean, she didn't, there's no way, I never would have thought, I mean she is right at the right age of course but honestly I never, wait. Are you pulling my leg here? You're kidding right?"

"Nope," Dudley said, grinning from ear to ear, Harry's reaction was priceless. "She's in. She got the letter this morning; I called you straight away after we'd finished our breakfast. She's really excited."

"But I thought you had enrolled her in Smeltings like Emma."

"We did, but she got her letter for Hogwarts this morning. I guess I need to contact the office at Smeltings and tell them she'll be attending school elsewhere."

"Wow Dudley, just wow. I never would have thought that Olivia would get in; I didn't know she had ever shown any signs. Well, I mean, Lily's told me a few things before but I didn't believe her to be honest, I thought it was a story her and Olivia had cooked up, you how those two always like to pretend different things when they played. I thought it was just wishful thinking from them both."

"I never would have expected it either but the more I think about it, I can remember small incidents that point to it but they were always shrugged off as something easily explainable."

"Well Dudley, I think it's great. Congratulations, I mean it, and don't worry Ginny and I will help you figure all this out. And don't worry about Olivia, she'll be perfectly fine. When does the letter say that someone will be coming by to talk to you and Liz?"

"Thank you Harry, I'm still confused about some of this stuff, not the letter or anything like that but what it all will entail, the cost, the supplies and such. It says they're sending a representative tomorrow to talk to us. It doesn't give a name though."

"Well I know Ginny told me that you'll all be coming over for dinner tonight so we can talk more then and if you want, me or Ginny or both of us if you like can be there tomorrow when they come by."

"I'd really appreciate that, I don't want to appear totally clueless tomorrow and yes I'd like it very much if you and Ginny could be here, I think Elizabeth would too, I know she'll feel more at ease having familiar faces here when whoever it is comes over."

"We'll do that then, we'll bring Lily too besides I know her and Olivia are going to have a hundred things to talk about anyway," Harry said with a chuckle.

"Yes, those two talk so fast I can hardly understand what they're saying half the time when they're together, I feel much better about her going knowing that your kids will be there with her. I've been worrying how homesick she was going to get at Smeltings with only having Emma there, they're not that close and this past year it's only gotten worse with those two."

Harry smiled sadly listening to Dudley continue on about Emma and Olivia, it almost seemed like history was repeating itself with Dudley's daughters. His mother and Dudley's mother Petunia's relationship had been very similar to Emma and Olivia's. His aunt had confessed to him once over tea several years after the war how much she regretted that she never got to fix things with her younger sister and how she was sorry if over the years she had taken out her anger with Lily on him. She told him this as they were having tea one day after going out for lunch. Harry had offered to take his aunt out to tell her that he and Ginny had found out they were going to have a little girl and that they planned to name her Lily. He remembered how he had been stunned when Petunia started crying as he told her the news. Harry silently prayed that it was just usual sibling rivalry and that Emma and Olivia would grow out of it by the time they were adults.

"Well they're both at a difficult age right now, Emma probably sees Olivia as a baby since she's still only 11 and they'll probably stop acting like this when they get older. James, Al and Lily drive me crazy sometimes with their antics, I wouldn't worry too much."

Sighing Dudley replied, "Perhaps you're right, it's just so taxing sometimes, you'd think with them only having a couple of years between them they'd be friends. Maybe once they've both gotten past puberty it'll all calm down. I tell ya Harry, at least you have your boys there with you, you have no idea what it's like living with 3 women."

At this point Elizabeth's voice came down the hall, sternly but playfully saying,

"I heard that Dudley Dursley, maybe you'd like to camp out on the couch tonight then?"

"I love you dear."

Harry laughed. "Get in trouble with the wife for that one?"

"Ah, she knows I'm only joking," Dudley said. Harry knew the exchange had just been harmless banter between a husband and wife.

"So, you're only joking are you?"

"Well…eh, you know."

They both laughed at this and Harry said, "I know, you're not at liberty to say."

"I'm going to let you go now Harry, we'll see you at dinner tonight."

"Alright Big D, take it easy."

"Bye Harry."

Dudley hung up the phone, feeling much less apprehensive about this, knowing that Harry would be there to help him. He walked off to find Elizabeth and tell her about tonight's dinner plans, he knew she's be happy she didn't have to cook for once, Dudley had tried helping her in the kitchen early on in their marriage but after burning holes in 4 of her best pots she had banned him from using any appliance in the kitchen besides the microwave.


	3. Catching up with the Potters

A/N: This chapter focuses on the Potters, mainly Harry's reaction after the phone conversation with Dudley. The next chapter we will be back with Olivia, promise. Thank you to everyone who reviewed!

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Harry hung up the phone and his first thought was to tell Lily, she'd be ecstatic, but then he thought better of it, let Olivia be the one to tell her, it was Olivia's big news after all. He knew he couldn't resist telling Ginny though; there was no way he could wait until they all got here for dinner for her to find out. He walked through the sitting room and noticed Al was pouring over Quidditch scores in the Daily Prophet.

"Hey Dad, Mum said Dudley was on the phone, what'd he want?"

Harry decided it best not to tell any of the children the news, even though Al could keep a secret; he still wanted to wait to see what they all said tonight.

"Nothing much really, we hadn't talked in a while. He was just calling to fill me in on everything that's been going on lately. He, Elizabeth and the girls are coming over for dinner tonight."

"Awww Dad," Al drawled. "Emma's coming? I can't stand her; she's so snotty to us."

"Yes Albus, Emma's coming, look I know it's hard but be as nice as you can ok? I know she likes to read, maybe you could show her some of your new books, the ones by muggle authors at least."

Al sighed deeply, "Dad, come on, do you really Emma'd be into Sci-Fi? If she doesn't like wizards, what makes you think she'd like aliens and all the other space creatures in my new books?"

"Ok so maybe you shouldn't show her your _Hitchhiker's Fish Guide to the Universe_ or whatever it is, show her some of your classic novels you know like something along the lines of Charles Dickens or your Sherlock Holmes collection."

Al laughed, "Dad it's the _Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy_. The Fish one is another book in the series, its _So Long and Thanks for All the Fish_. Didn't you ever read them? You were raised by muggles, Douglas Adams was a muggle writer his stuff came out originally way back in the 1970's you should have heard of him."

"My uncle didn't care much for books of any kind, so I didn't get to read anything that wasn't required for school. My knowledge of muggle authors is limited to the likes of Dickens, Mary Shelley, Tolkien, Alexandre Dumas and anyone else we had to read at the school I attended before Hogwarts. There weren't many books in the house ever that I can remember come to think of it. Have you seen your mother? I've got to talk to her about something."

"Her, James and Lily are out back de-gnoming the garden, Mum says it's their punishment for arguing so much today and ever since we got back from school."

"Thanks son," Harry said as he turned and walked toward the back door.

Harry walked towards the back of the house shaking his head as he remembered the constant bickering James and Lily had been going at lately. James was still upset that his baby sister had been placed in Slytherin and hadn't let her live it down yet. He had been furious when it had happened, saying he wasn't surprised that Al had been placed there but now Lily too? He was the only Potter child in Gryffindor, and that to James was just ludicrous. Even Teddy hadn't been in Gryffindor; instead he had been in Ravenclaw.

It didn't matter to Harry or Ginny, he had been honest with Al when he told him there was nothing wrong with any of the houses and that if he was placed in Slytherin then the house would have gained a good student and that he and his mother would always love him no matter what, they just wanted him to do his best. He had told Lily the same thing and he wasn't personally surprised that either of them had ended up in Slytherin, Al was very smart but not overly bookish or that much into his studies, he often got in trouble in class for reading his novels during lessons, his latest obsession being science fiction books.

Harry and Ginny knew before he even got on the train that because of the lackluster way that he had always been about studying that he would never be in Ravenclaw. He was brave and courageous but in his own quiet way, he often reminded Harry of something Professor McGonagall had told him in a conversation they had only weeks after the final battle.

Harry had thought forever that he would be so relieved when it was all over and done with, but the severity of what he had seen in that last battle and the lives that had been lost and affected, he found himself feeling anything but brave afterwards. He didn't know how he'd find the courage to continue going on when he thought of all that happened and all who had been lost. When he had confessed these feelings to her, she had given him one of the best pieces of advice he had ever heard, she had smiled her small, thin-lipped smile he had grown used to seeing over the years and there were tears in the corners of her eyes as she said:

"When I was growing up, one of my mother's favorite sayings was 'remember Minnie, Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is that little voice deep inside you that at the end of the day it says, I'll try again tomorrow.' The older I've gotten and with everything I've had to face over the years, the more I've understood what she meant by that. These recent years in fact, it has sometimes been the only thing that has gotten me through these dark days. Remember that Harry, sometimes the most courageous thing one can do is continue to go on."

That was the kind of courage and bravery that he saw in his son Albus, it fit him perfectly. He didn't have the loudness or brashness or bravado that James did, in this way Gryffindor did fit James more and Slytherin likewise fit Al more. With Lily he wasn't surprised that she fit more into Slytherin too, she was fairly quiet as well unless she was around family or friends and was definitely the most observant of his children. It always surprised anyone who was not family or a close friend to happen to see her in her true light.

She could be just as loud and funny as James but only those closest to her or those few that she would sometimes instantly feel comfortable with would see it usually. She had a very sneaky streak about her too that he knew she got from Ginny. But, with having 2 older brothers, well 3 if you count Teddy, Lily had learned early on how to be sneaky. She was especially sneaky and could be somewhat manipulative with Teddy because she knew he adored her. When she was around 5 she could effectively convince him to let her have cookies and ice cream for breakfast, once she even convinced him to let her eat an entire pack of candy sprinkles for breakfast. Ginny had been furious with her when she had caught them, especially since Lily had always lied to Teddy about already having had her breakfast.

She was a very sweet child thankfully however, Harry was always grateful for the fact that while sneaky; she never developed a vindictive side to go with it. No, she was sneaky about getting into things she shouldn't and also about trying to find out information that she had no business knowing. When she was younger she was always the one who found out what everyone was getting for Christmas, Birthdays, and Easter. This made Harry and Ginny have to cast a number of different charms on any present they brought into the house. She was more fascinated with the Sherlock Holmes books that had been bought for Al a few Christmases ago than he ever had been.

This worried Harry, that she seemed to like sneaking around and doing the detective thing even more than he had. It reminded him too much of how him, Ron and Hermione had snuck around Hogwarts and always found out more than what was meant for them to know. True, it turned out to all be beneficial in the end but still, now as a father, thinking of how Lily might like poking around school and Hogsmede a little too much worried him slightly. He definitely didn't like how she always pulled Hugo into her excursions and he hoped Olivia would have the good sense to not go along with her.

Harry walked out the back door into the small garden behind their house; it was a nice sized but not overly large house in the countryside. Harry had thought of him and Ginny moving into Grimmauld Place after they married but he had so many emotional memories of that place that he never quite felt at home there. No matter how much Ginny and Hermione had tried to spruce it up, so instead he had offered it to Andromeda for her and Teddy to live in. Andromeda was happy to leave her own home after the deaths of her husband, daughter and son-in-law she too was glad to move out of a place with so many memories.

As he approached Ginny, James and Lily he couldn't help smirking when he saw how sulky his son and daughter looked, neither of them were speaking as they worked. Ginny he noticed was smiling and humming to herself. She looked up as Harry neared them, and waved. She was positively beaming, Harry thought this was hilarious in contrast to James and Lily's moods at the moment but he couldn't blame Ginny, this was about the quietest those two had been since they had came home.

"I just off the phone with Dudley; you won't believe what he told me."

"Dad, are they really all coming over for supper tonight?" James asked irritably.

"Yes they are and I hope your attitude has improved by then," Harry replied.

James sighed deeply and earned himself a glare from his mother. He went back to his work without saying anything, still sulking. Ginny looked at Harry and rolled her eyes at him with that 'they've been driving me crazy' look on her face. Then she grinned and said,

"Ohhh, what's the big surprise all about then? Dudley wouldn't tell me he said he wanted you to be the first to hear it, it's something really big by the sound of it."

Before Harry could say anything Lily and James both interrupted at the same time saying,

"Surprise? What surprise?"

"You two and your brother won't find out until supper," Harry told them.

"Come on Dad, that's not fair, why does Mum get to know?" Lily asked.

"Look, Emma and Olivia don't even know that their parents planned this supper so the announcement could be made, so I don't think it's fair for the three of you to know either. You'll find out soon enough."

"Yes, and while I am discussing everything with your father, I will be watching you two and I better not see either of you leave this garden until you are finished, is that clear?"

"Yes Mum," they both said exasperatedly.

Harry and Ginny walked inside and stood in front of the window at the kitchen sink. Harry took out his wand and muttered, "muffliato."

Ginny laughed and said, "What was that for?"

"Al's just in the sitting room, or he was when I last him at least. Just making sure he can't overhear us."

"Wow, this must really be something big then. So tell me, what's the big secret?"

"Olivia's going to Hogwarts."

Ginny's eyes became huge and she gasped at what her husband had just told her. Harry nodded and admitted he had been just as shocked when Dudley had told him the news. "I can't believe it, oh Merlin this is amazing. Our little Olivia? Olivia's really going to Hogwarts? Well no wonder he wanted to share this with you first."

"Yeah," Harry laughed. "He said it brought back memories when I got my acceptance letter, although I doubt there was any letter shredding going on. She got it this morning, Dudley and Elizabeth want us to help them with getting her supplies and they want us to be there when Hogwarts sends someone to talk to them tomorrow."

"Yes, of course we'll help them, wow, I never would have expected this. I bet Olivia's excited, Lily will be too. Maybe we should invite Ron and Hermione over as well? Hermione can relate to where they're coming from and maybe even be able to answer some questions that they might have that we can't."

"That sounds great; I'll send them an owl right away."

Harry gave his wife a quick kiss before turning to head off to his study, Ginny smiled and grabbed his arm before he could leave, pulling him back in into a short but deeper kiss. As she walked back outside to monitor James and Lily's progress Harry smiled and thought to himself just how lucky he was and how much he loved his life. He walked happily up the stairs to his study and sat down to pen a letter to Ron and Hermione about the night's dinner party.


	4. The Fight

A/N: This is longer than the previous chapters, sorry for the lag since the last update, I've just been busy with my summer courses for college and I had a case of writer's block for some reason in the middle of this chapter. Hope you enjoy it, thank you once again to everyone who's reviewed.

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Olivia had gone up to her room to tidy up after breakfast as she usually did, she was still so excited however that she skipped around her room as she cleaned up, singing softly to herself, "I'm going to Hogwarts, I'm going to Hogwarts."

She couldn't wait till the start of term; she wanted to go get her books and supplies right away, this was much better than going to Smeltings with her crummy sister. She grinned at this thought, she wouldn't have Emma to boss her around at Hogwarts and there would be no teachers who would refer to her as Emma's little sister. She would get to see Lily more and she'd learn to do magic!

She wondered what house she would be in, Lily had told her all about the different houses in her letters she had sent to her over the duration of Lily's first year. She knew the names of the four houses were; Gryffindor (which she knew James was in), Hufflepuff, Slytherin (which Al and Lily were in) and Ravenclaw. She knew Rose, Lily's older cousin was in Ravenclaw.

Olivia had met Rose and also Roxanne at a few of Lily's sleep over parties and liked them almost as much as she did Lily, even if Rose could be a little bit of a know-it-all at times but she wasn't snobby about it like Emma was about her perfect marks. And at least, Rose knows how to have fun she thought. Olivia had even received a few letters from Rose and Roxanne enclosed with Lily's letters over the last year. She had met Rose's younger brother Hugo and Roxanne's older brother Fred once or twice but couldn't remember which houses Lily had said they were in.

Olivia didn't quite understand the whole competition business with the houses and still didn't see why James had been upset about Lily getting into Slytherin. Olivia didn't care which house she wound up in, although she could just about bet that she wouldn't be in Ravenclaw with Rose but then again how much math and science would she even have to worry about at Hogwarts? The way Lily described her potions class it sounded a lot like science to Olivia so she figured right off the bat that she'd have trouble with that class. Or maybe it was less like her science courses than she thought, after all it was something having to do with magic right? Maybe it wouldn't be so bad.

As she picked up a pair of dirty socks from the floor and threw them in the clothes bin by her door she realized she would also finally get to see the game that Lily was always talking about that they played on broomsticks! What was it called again? Quiddatch? Quaddal? It was something like that, whatever it was, but Olivia knew Lily and her brothers loved it and that their mother had played it professionally for a while before they were born and that now she wrote a journalist column about it for the wizard paper. Olivia knew that she would get to learn how to fly a broomstick now too, but she wasn't looking forward to it.

At this thought her stomach twisted, she hated flying, she was always petrified whenever they went on any vacation that called for a plane flight and always closed her eyes on the takeoff and landing. She remembered once on a trip the family had taken to New York City in the United States how Emma had teased her for crying on a flight where they had experienced a lot of turbulence, and strangely Emma had lost her voice after that for the rest of the flight.

Olivia now knew that was because of her, not because, as their parents had excused it as the product of a bug that 'must have been going around'. They had insisted that Emma drink tea and eat only soup for the duration of that trip even though she had gotten her voice back not long after they landed. Olivia had to admit though; it was kind of funny that Emma was forced to eat such boring food on that vacation no matter the restaurant they went to.

At knock at her door interrupted her thoughts, she dropped the shoe she had been holding and went to open the door, thinking it was probably Mum coming to check on the progress of her cleaning. She was shocked to see Emma standing there.

"Well, are you just gonna stand there or are you going to let me in?"

Olivia stood there a moment longer, mouth open before she stepped back and said, "Yeah sorry Em, come in. What's up?"

Emma walked over to the window and stared out it for a few long minutes before finally speaking. "So, you're really gonna go to this school huh?" She turned and offered her younger sister a small smile.

Olivia was really surprised at Emma's attitude, was she actually being nice? Maybe she, somewhere deep down, was sad that Olivia wouldn't be going to school with her? Olivia walked closer to Emma and sat down on her bed facing her.

"Yeah, I'm really going, I can't believe it, it still doesn't seem real. And, it's pretty far away, what if I get homesick? Do you ever get homesick at Smeltings?"

"Of course I do, usually in just the first few weeks of being back there but that's normal I guess. What I really miss most is Mum's food; the cafeteria there is horrible!" Emma scrunched up her face at the thought.

"Just wait you'll be starving most of your first week away from home before you get used to it or you're finally so hungry you don't care. What about all your books and stuff? Where are you going to get them? I bet it's all going to be pretty expensive, what if Dad and Mum can't afford your stuff for school?"

"Well I know there are different stores that Lily's talked about where she and everyone else who goes to Hogwarts buy everything, but I hadn't thought about how Mum and Dad will pay for it. We don't have any of the wizard money that Lily's shown me. Oh, Em, it would be so horrible if Mum and Dad can't get my books and robes and stuff!"

Emma wrinkled her nose in disgust, "Robes? You have to wear robes at this school all the time? Geez, you might as well just go to class in your pj's if you have to wear robes all the time, make sure you get a nice new pair of bunny slippers to go with it Olivia."

Olivia was slightly annoyed at the bunny slippers comment but this was the nicest talk they had had in a while without bickering so she decided to just let it slide. She had to admit anyway, she was going to have to get used to wearing robes, and she couldn't imagine how they didn't get burning up hot in them. At least by the time winter came she'd always be warm. "They wear robes but sometimes they wear regular clothing too, Lily and her brothers and parents wear them a lot, you've seen them."

"Hmm." Emma nodded slowly; she seemed pre-occupied by something again. "Yeah, I wonder how much something like that would cost…" she said trailing off.

"I don't know, maybe we'll find out tomorrow when the school sends someone to talk to Mum and Dad."

"You're probably right, hey sis, come to my room with me, I've got you a present."

Now she was really shocked, Emma had a present for her? "Really? What is it?"

"Well, if you want to see it come with me silly."

"But why would you have a present for me? It's not even my birthday yet for another week."

"Well I thought about it and how much am I going to see of you once you start going to this school? It's sort of a going away present, come on Olivia I want to give it to you now."

"You haven't even had time to buy me anything since breakfast Emma I'm not stupid."

"I didn't buy it sis, it's something we already had around the house, and I guess you could say I made it for you but all I did was add something pretty to it."

"I don't believe you."

"Fine, don't believe me then," Emma sneered; she turned away from Olivia and began to drum her fingers on the windowsill.

Olivia sighed, "Alright, alright, what is it?"

"Nope, sorry sis, if you don't want my present I'm not going to tell you what it is. It's just that I felt sorry about how mean I've been to you lately and now you're going off to a completely different school than me, I don't know, I just feel bad that I'm not going to be there to look after you. I know we don't always get along, but you are my little sister and nothing can change that."

Wow, Olivia thought, maybe she really means it. I am her little sister after all; maybe she is finally doing something nice for me. "I'm sorry Emma, I just didn't think you'd do something like that, it's really sweet of you."

"Ok, let's go now," Emma said smiling as she grabbed Olivia's hand and the two sisters ran into Emma's room. It looked almost identical to Olivia's with the same lavender paint and the way all the furniture was arranged the same. There was even an 'Emma' pegged clothes rack on the wall just like the one that spelled out Olivia that she had in her room. The pictures, the array of clothes in the open closet, the and the absence of many of the play things that still occupied Olivia's 10 year old bedroom were the only differences in the two girls rooms. Emma let go of Olivia's hand when they entered the room and went to the white desk on the opposite wall from the bed just as Olivia's was placed and opened the top drawer. She pulled out something and held it behind her back, a wide smile on her face.

"Are you ready for it sis?"

"Yes! Oh, Em, you're the best big sister ever! I'm so sorry we've been fighting so much lately."

"Hey, we're sisters right? It's normal for us to argue sometimes. Well, here you go, hope you like it."

She handed Olivia a light colored, straight wooden stick that still had a few green leaves on the end of it. It had purple colored ribbons of various shades dangling from the end of it and a plastic star glued to the tip. Olivia stared at it for a few minutes perplexed by her sister's gift. Then she looked up at Emma who was doubling over with silent giggles. Olivia felt her face grow red and her anger boil up inside her. She balled up her free fist and placed it on her hip, raising the stick up in the air, she tried to control her voice,

"Emma, what is this?"

Emma could bear it no longer, she burst out with laughter, "Now Mum and Dad don't have to buy you one of those wands, little sis! Isn't it great? I even specially decorated yours! Go on, wave it around, let's see how much magic you can do!" Emma laughed even harder at this, holding onto her desk chair for support.

"I hate you! You're so mean! I take it back, you're not the best sister ever, you're the worst!" And with that Olivia threw down the fake wand and lunged toward her sister. She pushed a surprised Emma back into the desk as hard as she could and looked back at Emma's shocked face with satisfaction. Then Emma spoke,

"You little brat!" She slapped Olivia across the cheek, they both glared at each other for a moment, and then the next minute they were rolling on the floor, pulling at each other's hair, throwing punches, kicking where ever possible and clawing at each other's faces. There was so much commotion going on they didn't even hear their mother enter the room.

"Girls? Have you finished tidying up your roo—EMMA LOUISE AND OLIVIA ANNE! Stop this at once; get up off the floor, both of you!" Elizabeth pulled the two still fighting girls apart and pushed them away from each other. Standing between them she demanded, "What in heaven's name is going on here?!" Both girls started yelling at once,

"She pushed me!"

"She hit me!"

"You deserved it!"

"I pushed you because you're an evil sister and I hate you!"

"Well you're—"

"ENOUGH!" Elizabeth cried out. She looked at her daughters and then in a sharp voice addressed them, "Both of you downstairs, NOW!" She put one hand on Emma's shoulder and one on Olivia's and marched them out of the room, down the stairs. She continued in her terse tone as they walked, "We are going to talk about this and I will get to the bottom of it, I will not stand for the two of you fighting, rolling around on the floor like a pair of heathens! I swear! I am absolutely disgusted with the two of you! Into the sitting room, here," she gestured towards two of the chairs in the room that faced the sofa.

"I will be going to get your Father, the both of you will sit here and not utter a word until I come back, the four of us are going to discuss this and decide what punishment will be appropriate is that clear?"

Neither one of the girls said anything for a moment, then seeing the look their mother gave them both looked at the floor and mumbled, "Yes, Mum."

"Good, now I will only be a minute, and I mean it, I want complete silence in this room until your Father and I return," and with that Elizabeth stalked out of the room.

The girls glared at each other but neither said anything, they knew their mother was serious when she was like this. Neither wanted to push her further, they heard both sets of their parents footsteps go back up the stairs. The few minutes that passed until they heard them descending the stairs and enter the sitting room felt like an eternity.

They looked up as their parents came in the room, Elizabeth was fuming, and her lips were pursed so thinly they had all but disappeared. Olivia thought she wouldn't have been surprised to have literally seen steam coming out of her ears. She glanced at her father; Dudley looked extremely grave and disappointed. When he caught Olivia's gaze he gave her a very hard look and narrowed his eyes at her. Olivia gulped; she knew they were in for it, big time.

For a few minutes all four of them sat in silence, then Dudley finally spoke in a low voice. "Now, I realize that the two of you haven't been getting along very well for some time now and also that as sisters, it is normal for you to quarrel and be angry with each other at times. However, this is unacceptable. Neither of you have ever acted out towards the other in such a violent manner as this before. I am, to say the least, more than highly upset with you both." He paused for a minute, and stared at the two sisters. He sighed slightly before continuing,

"I don't know where we've gone wrong with the two of you. I don't expect you to be best friends, but you're sisters for crying out loud! I cannot for the life of me figure out what it is that has created this deep hostility between you. We've love you both equally, we always have, we've never favored either of you over the other, always made sure everything was as fair as any parents can, right down to the size of your rooms, how many presents you both get at Christmas and birthdays, and we never compare the two of you. Never once have we ever said to either of you 'why can't you be more like your sister?' So I can't for the life of me think of what it is your mother and I could have done to make you feel this way about each other, we love you, and we want you to get along. I just don't get it, I really don't."

He sighed once more and put his head in his hands, Elizabeth was sitting beside him still fuming, too angry to speak to her daughters. Dudley looked up again, taking in the girls scruffy appearances. They both had small scratches on their faces, and Olivia's cheek still had a faint red mark from where Emma had slapped her. Emma's hair band was ripped slightly and was almost falling out of her hair. Olivia had a black eye that was deepening in color while Emma was sporting a busted lip. Dudley finally spoke once more, "We will discuss punishment later, and this is not over, not by a long shot girls. You've really gotten yourselves in trouble this time. Your mother and I will not tolerate the two of you behaving this way, this ends right here, right now. Is that clear?"

"Yes, Dad," they both softly said.

"Now, listen to me. We are going to Harry and Ginny's for supper tonight, I spoke with them on the phone after breakfast and they invited us over. If there is any arguing going on tonight, any at all or if either of you are rude to anyone," he said with a pointed look at Emma, "you will be in even more trouble than you are now, and I assure you, neither of you wants that. You should both go clean yourselves up and then I want you to finish the rest of your chores without a word."

With that Dudley got up from the sofa and made to leave the room, Elizabeth rose to follow him. "Wait," Emma called out. They turned and faced the girls again. "That's it? Just finish our chores? Then what?"

"Your father and I need time to decide exactly what it is that we should do with you two. For now, go do your chores and then once you are finished, you may go about your day as you please until it is time to go to Harry and Ginny's."

"So…" Emma carefully said, "Does that mean I can still go to Melanie's when I'm done, just for a little while? Please?"

"Emma Dursley, I am amazed that you would think it appropriate to ask such a question now. No, you absolutely may not go to Melanie's. In fact, I think you should phone her now and tell her that you will not be coming over and that no, she is not allowed to come over here," her mother answered in a very matter of fact tone.

"But, Melanie only lives down the street, I could walk, and I'll come home at the exact time you and Dad tell me to."

"We are very well aware of where Melanie Larkins lives and I cannot believe that you would ask your Mother for such a privilege right now. Neither of you are to leave this house until we go to the Potter's tonight, you go call Melanie right now young lady and tell her that you will not be coming over and that is final. I do not want to hear another word about the subject. We are done talking to the both of you for now."

Dudley and Elizabeth left the room, leaving both girls behind. Olivia stayed in her seat, all happiness from getting her letter drained. Why had she been so stupid that she had to push Emma? She watched Emma get up and leave, not speaking to her or even looking at her little sister. She sat for a while, thinking about the events of the day so far and the punishment that she knew was coming. Oh, what a way to start the summer and now it was probably ruined and it was all her fault. She was also upset that neither her Mum or her Dad had even bothered to ask what happened, ok so yeah, even with them knowing the reason; she was pretty sure they would still be just as mad that they had fought like that, she knew they would be. But, it annoyed her that they didn't ask anyway, they always did before, but then again, they had never tried to scratch each other's eyes out like they had today.

She was still sitting there several minutes later, slumped down in the armchair when her Mum walked back in the room. "Olivia dear," her voice was stern but had a soothing edge to it as well. "You need to go clean yourself up and get started on the rest of your morning chores, if you don't hurry at this rate you'll be scrambling to finish them by lunchtime."

Olivia continued to stare at the floor, and then she began playing with the fringe that surrounded the edges of the cushion. Mrs. Dursley, sensing something was on her daughter's mind sat back down on the sofa in front of her. "Sweetie, is there something you'd like to talk about?"

Olivia still playing with the fringe was silent for a moment and then said, "Why didn't you and Dad even ask why we were fighting? Don't you want to know? It's not fair…"

"No matter what the fight was about, you girls shouldn't have acted out that way like that."

"Yes, I know but you did say we were going to talk about it, we never did."

"Alright then, tell me what happened, but remember, it doesn't matter who started it, and it will not change our minds about anything when we've decided what to do with you two."

"Emma was mean to me, she was making fun of me being a witch. She came in my room and acted all nice like she was apologizing and that she really meant it, I was stupid to believe her, she told me she made me a present and that she'd miss me when I left."

"Well, what's so bad about that?"

"You didn't let me finish Mum."

"I'm sorry dear, go on."

"I went into her room so she could give me the present and it was some old stick she had gotten out of the yard and she put all these ribbons and stuff on it. She said now you and Dad didn't have to get me a wand, then she started laughing and told me to go ahead and see how much magic I could do. She was laughing at me so hard and she only made that wand to be mean and she had been so fake nice to me and I had believed her. I got so mad, I pushed her. Then she slapped me and then we started fighting, then you found us."

"Olivia, I understand why that upset you, but you should have come to us instead. Then Dad and I could have sorted it all out and you wouldn't be in any trouble at all. You shouldn't act so rashly, letting your temper get the best of you is not a good thing. If you can't control it, you could get yourself into a lot deeper trouble as you grow up. I know you've always had a feisty side sweetie."

"I was a lot like you when I was little. I got picked on so much for being short all it took was for someone to make one comment about my height and before they knew it, I would jump on them and try to clobber them as best I could," a small smile appeared on Elizabeth's face as she said this. "My fighting in school got me in trouble so many times when I was young. Right on up into my teen years if someone said anything that got my blood boiling I'd get myself in some of the worst fights, I had to work hard to learn to control my temper. But you can't go through life busting people in the mouth with a good right hook to solve your problems Olivia. And, you'll be going away to school from now on, I don't ever want to get any reports home that you've been fighting. Is that understood?"

"Yes Mum, but you do understand now why I did it right?"

"I do, but like I've already said sweetie, it's not going to keep you from getting punished, you had every right to feel upset at your sister, but you should not have done what you did. Maybe from now on you'll come to me or your Father or another adult about these kinds of things before you start a fight. Now, go brush your hair and come into the kitchen, I'll get an ice pack to put on your eye. I want you to be ready to go to Harry and Ginny's by five this afternoon alright? We're going to talk to them about helping us get everything you need for school. Which of your chores have you finished?"

"I made my bed, put all my dirty clothes in the hamper and dusted the shelves in my room."

"Ok, so that leaves the vacuuming, I want you to take care of your room, and the hallways. I'll tell Emma she needs to vacuum her room and in here. I'll use it first in our room and in the den, while I'm doing that you need to sit in the kitchen and keep the ice pack on your eye ok? Then after that, go ahead and do your vacuuming then I want you to sweep the sun room and Emma will take care of sweeping the kitchen while I dust in here."

Olivia got up and went to the bathroom she and Emma shared to fix her hair, the bruise around her eye was a dark purple by now. She sighed looking back at her reflection; she could faintly hear her mother talking to Emma in her room, telling her what she wanted her to do. When she was done she went back downstairs into the kitchen, her mother had already gotten the ice pack out and had placed it on the table. Olivia sat down and put it on her swollen eye, listening to the vacuum start up; she thought to herself that she couldn't wait till it was time to go to Lily's. It would probably be the last time she got to leave the house for a while anyway.


End file.
